Privilege carries its own duty

May 18 2003By Ian Chubb

Education is not a privilege; being educated is. When you've got it, do you appreciate your good fortune and use it to keep the door open for those who follow - or do you forget that they are there? Do you forget where you came from, and how you got to be where you are, or do you accept that your privilege used wisely and widely is one of the ways the fortunate few assist, inform and support others less fortunate?

I don't have too many doubts about the answers. I even have a privileged position. I am a vice-chancellor and that makes me a temporary custodian of a great piece of the national public education infrastructure that has to be better when I leave it than when I took it over. I remember where I came from; I know how fortunate I am; and I couldn't look in a mirror if I ever let pass without demur the uncontrolled experiments with Australia's future that some would seek to download from their PCs and on to real people.

I know what I want to use my position to work towards - a community (and a nation) worth living in - one that is socially just, culturally rich, prosperous and where the circumstances of birth are not major obstacles to advancement. Fundamentally, therefore, I believe in a quality education system in which anybody from anywhere who has the talent, the potential and the tenacity can participate and learn. We were a country with high aspirations: the federationists of the 19th century wanted greatness for Australia . . . international status, power, wealth and the most sublime of democracies. Half a century later when the horrors and threats of World War II were still very real, the federal minister responsible for establishing the Australian National University said he wanted a university that could take its rightful place among the great universities of the world so that "through it Australia will have taken one more step to aline (sic) itself with the great and enlightened nations of the world". If he were here, I think he would be happy with the university he created.

Where are we now? Is it possible that even a small fraction of our most talented youth will be less likely or even unwilling to participate in higher education given the changes proposed this week? Will the talented but poor student be willing to pay the premium on the ticket to get into the university that, because it charges most, will represent itself as being the best? We don't know. Worse, if it truly is the best, should it overwhelmingly be the refuge of a subset of those with talent - the ones willing to pay or to incur large debt? American universities get around this problem through using their often massive endowments; for them it can be talent first, money second through a "blind admissions" process. Does any Australian university have the resources to do that? Not even the richest.

The counterbalance to this, of course, is the fact that the proposed higher education package identifies around 25,000 new places (allowing for the fact that some funds already allocated for overenrolment will be absorbed, there are new funds for something like 18,000 places). This is a complicated package with many elements. Any two vice-chancellors will see different positives and negatives as they try to think simultaneously of the implications for the sector for their own institution. ");document.write("

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There are positives, and there are negatives: I think that the mooted workplace relations changes represent a position that is probably two decades behind where many universities now are. It is true that managing staff in universities is not easy - but managing staff never is.

The real issue is the sort of country we want Australia to be and the role and capacity of our universities to help get us there. Whatever we might be encouraged to think sometimes, it is the strength of the community that makes this a place worth living and widely accessible education is the key.

Professor Ian Chubb is vice-chancellor of the Australian National University in Canberra.